Life After Bankruptcy, Foreclosure & Shortsale

By Toni Ryan, Princeton Capital

A common questions many home buyers have today is, “How long do I have to wait before obtaining financing after a bankruptcy, foreclosure or short sale?”

Below is an overview based on credit issue:

Bankruptcy 

Conventional
• Ch. 7 or 11: 2 years with extenuating circumstance*, 4 year without and re-established credit
• CH 13 – 2 years from discharge date or 4 years from dismissal date

FHA
• Ch. 7: 2 years from discharge date with re-established credit – no delinquencies for 2 years
• Ch. 13: 1 year of the payout date must elapse and satisfactory payment performance with permission from the court to enter into a mortgage

VA
•  Ch. 7: 2 years from discharge date with re-established credit – no delinquencies for 2 years
• Ch. 13: 1 year of the payout date must elapse and satisfactory payment performance with permission from the court to enter into a mortgage

 Foreclosure

Conventional: 7 years from completion date
FHA:  3 years from completion date
VA: 2-3 years from completion date with good explanation of circumstances – must have sufficient entitlement.

Short Sale:

Conventional: 2 years – (Changing to 4 years on 8/15/14) with extenuating circumstances*- 4 years without extenuating circumstances
FHA: 1 year if qualified for “Back to Work Program” – 2 years with extenuating circumstances* or all debts were current until the short sale date - 3 years if short sale was not due to extenuating circumstances or debts were not paid on time before short sale.
VA: 2-3 years from completion date with good explanation or circumstances. Must have sufficient entitlement for new loan

NOTE: Currently, Conventional financing backed by FNMA has offered a wait period for short sales as low as 2 years with extenuating circumstances but it is important to note that for those loan applications received after August 15th, the wait period increases to 4 years. If you fit into the above category and are considering financing, you should act now or you will be limited to FHA financing and possibly VA, if entitled to VA programs and have sufficient entitlement for a new loan. Time is of the essence to experience the joy of homeownership.
*Always check with your mortgage professional for acceptable extenuating circumstances and any other changes that may have changed to the  programs listed since this printing.

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Translating Corporate Sales Techniques to Small Business

By Ashlei Jackson, Qlixite

Many small business owners are operating on a shoestring, some luck and an unwavering desire to be successful. Notice that a killer sales team was not included. So let’s say you’re in the business of pizza or plumbing or painting - odds are you’re really passionate about your industry. It’s this passion for excellence in your field that gets you into business. But sales is what keeps you in business. And tons of sales is what turns your little business into a dream job.

Getting Started: You can go out and try a bunch of sales tactics and see how they work or you can learn from the big brands. Every major company uses the following 5 tried and true, simple sales mechanisms...and you can too!

Step #1- Initiate Contact: This is all about getting out and getting seen. Find ways to get you and your company in front of people and then say “Hi” to everyone you meet. Just because it’s late and you’re picking up stuff at the store doesn’t mean you can meet one new person and find a way to tell them what you do.

Step #2 - Discovery Interest: When people do ask for more information, most business owners want to jump into what THEY want to say instead of finding out what the person WANTS to hear about. Spend some time developing 2-3 quick questions that will help you qualify a potential customer. You don’t want to sell pepperoni pizza to a vegetarian right?
Step #3 - 30 Seconds or Less: Cornering someone at the gas station and giving them a full demonstration on tankless water heaters is not feesible and might even scare some folks away. Instead you need to be able to describe your product or service in 30 seconds flat. It should be rehearsed and yet conversational. Here’s where you should demonstrate your passion but remember that you’re number one goal is for the customer to walk away knowing EXACTLY what you do and why they should use you.

Step #4 - Open your mouth & ASK: Too often people assume that asking for the sale can come across as pushy. Yeah. It can. But not asking for the sale when the customer is ready can also kill your business. If someone walked up and said that they liked your painting and you never offer them the option to buy...who lost? BOTH of you! Don’t be afraid of getting a “No.” If you keep it conversation and simple - you’ll be fine.

Step #5 - Referrals & Reviews: Whether someone is a client or not - they should have your business card. This can make it easy for them to contact you when they’re ready to buy OR it makes it really easy for them to pass it along to a friend. It’s all about letting other people sell for you, right? And don’t forget to have clients write reviews and testimonials on sites like Yelp, Yahoo, Google+ and Facebook. External validation can amplify your sales tenfold.

Step # 6 - Repeat Steps 1 through 5: Good Luck!

Recipes: Gnocci & Black Bean Corn Salad

Riding for a Cause: Meadow Vista Trails Association

Information provided by the Meadow Vista Trails Association

A group called Country BabyGirls has formed to create a pledge ride to raise donations for Muscular Sclerosis.  In that group of riders are two Meadow Vista Trail Association members, Rich Walker & Claudia Booth.

Rich will be riding the 10 Mile challenge and Claudia will be riding the 20 Mile challenge.  Both are hoping that MVTA members and those of the community will be charitable and donate some money towards their ride!  The ride will not happen until October 4, 2014, but they are already on the trails to rack up training miles!

The donations are needed before the day of the ride and can be placed right now!  This is being done officially through the MS Society based in Sacramento.  You can log onto the Country BabyGirls website, www.ec4ms.org and click on Donate Now and it will take you directly to the MS Society website where the Country BabyGirls donation collection is being done by MS Society.  Once there, you will see each riders name, click on the rider you want your donation to support!  You can pledge any amount!  The goal is $5,000.00 and currently we are a little over $2,000.

Sour Power & Teeth

By Dr. Scott Thompson, DDS, Winning With Smiles

In the late 1980's the candy industry discovered how much young people enjoy the kick of a sour taste.  They began creating their standard candies in a sour version. Over the years it has transformed the candy industry. The financial success of "sour" candies was even reported in the Wall Street Journal.

To give you a hint at what happened, consider "Warheads." The challenge to the young folks was to pop the Warhead in their mouth and time how many seconds they could keep it there before they had to spit it out because it was too sour! If they made 18 seconds, they mastered it. Candy had become sport!

Now consider your chemistry lessons. Sour taste means acid; remember? Acid dissolves things, especially mineral things (like tooth enamel). The candy industry has added three acids (citric, ascorbic and malic) to create this sour sensation. Those acids are dissolving the enamel of the teeth. Kid's complain of their teeth hurting when they bite into foods.  Enamel is wearing away exposing sensitive areas of tooth, and of course cavities are more prevalent.
 
When your child considers a treat, discuss with him or her the effects and steer them to a healthier choice with less acid.  Education is a key to winning!

How to Buy a Home in a Competitive Real Estate Market

By Christine Schlittenhart, Sierra Pacific Real Estate

Demand for real estate is growing in many markets across the country, but especially in our special area of the Foothills. That’s great, but it creates competition in the form of all-cash offers, offers for thousands of dollars over list price, and a growing gap between affordability and prices in a given area.

If you are a buyer who needs to have their purchase financed – pay attention to these 5 tips that may help you secure the home of your dreams. Don’t forget that price is certainly a factor – if not the most important factor to a Seller – but these tips can give you an advantage when you’re trying to secure an initial commitment from the seller.

1. Get the Right Lender - Your loan officer’s reputation in the community is critical, especially among the agents who are controlling the deals. If your loan officer has a trusted name, recognition and a favorable presence in the local market, this can be communicated via the listing agent, who has a direct influence on what offer the seller takes.

2. Get the Right Buyer’s Agent - You’ll need a real estate agent to represent you if you’re going to be making offers on properties listed on the open market. Ideally, the person you’re going to want representing you is someone who has a reputation for delivering in the local market. This is especially important as many real estate agents network with each other and work with each other on a regular basis. If your buyer’s agent has a favorable reputation not only in the local community, but with the listing agent in a previous transaction, for example, this is a very good sign that person can influence the seller because they know the offer is strong and they trust the other side.

3. Get an Introduction to the Listing Agent - Upon your buyer’s agent (who’s representing you) offer submission, your loan officer calls the listing agent to introduce themselves and explain how well-qualified you are to purchase that property. Many listing agents inevitably call the lenders of the buyers whose offers are strong on paper in an attempt to feel them out about the buyer’s qualifications. Preemptively, taking this step is a favorable approach that makes it easier for the listing agent to influence the seller to accept your offer.

4. Understand How You Appear on Paper - It doesn’t matter if you have $500,000 in income; if you’re buying a home and putting less than 20% down, even if another offer is higher than yours, the offer with 20% down still looks stronger on paper to agents. Another approach to take to increase your odds of getting the seller to accept: Don’t request a credit for closing costs in your initial purchase offer. When you ask for a credit for closing costs based on whatever purchase price amount you are looking for, that gives the seller less net proceeds at closing — that is, unless you offer a higher purchase price and ask for a credit that way. But be aware, doing the latter means the house must appraise for a higher value to support your higher offered amount with your requested credits for cash to close.

5. Offer a Short Closing - Upon making an offer to buy a property, making an offer to close in less than 30 days is an aggressive approach, communicating to the seller that your financing is lined up and it’s time to play ball. Know that lenders are up against federal mandatory disclosure time frames and, as such, have certain thresholds they have to meet in order to be federally compliant with recent regulatory changes.

By making sure you’re covering all these bases when you’re making offers and getting acclimated to the local housing market, your odds of getting your offer accepted could dramatically increase. Don’t forget to seek out one of your local Meadow Vista Merchant Agents, who are willing and waiting to help you!

Meadow Vista Community Center Update

"Neighbors Helping Neighbors"

By Gerry Hinkle, Club Secretary

The Meadow Vista Friendly Neighbor Club would like to thank all those who helped celebrate their 70th Anniversary during a luncheon held at the Auburn Valley Country Club on June 25, 2014.

In addition to many members and their guests, we were thrilled to have some long-time club and community members in attendance, which shared many wonderful stories of the past. We were even treated to a happy song sung by our local celebrity, Ms. Joni Roth.

Mr. George Lay, local historian, was Master of Ceremonies, and he took us down memory lane with lots of funny stories.  He acknowledged some past recipients of “The Friendly Neighbor of The Year Awards” and “Community Service Awards,” as well as past and present Club Presidents.

The MVFN Club is now on summer break, but will resume meetings at the Meadow Vista Grange Hall on the 4the Wednesday of each month, beginning September 24th, 11:30 a.m. (Social), 12 Noon (Lunch), followed by an informative speaker and general meeting.  We would love to have you join us!
Please call Gerry Hinkle, 878-6117, or Cathy Williams, 878-6843, for any questions.

Fawn Rescue in Placer County: Kindred Spirits

Information provided by Kindred Spirits Fawn Rescue

Most people think of spring as the time for new life but you might have noticed some “spots” still running around this summer. These adorable young deer are spunky and fun to watch but an unfortunate side effect of living in our beautiful area is that sometimes we find these young fawns are injured or have been orphaned. Do you know what to do?

Kindred Spirits Fawn Rescue is in its 4th season as an independent rescue facility based out of Loomis. It is the ONLY active fawn rescue program serving Sacramento, Placer and Yolo Counties. Licensed by the Department of Fish & Wildlife, this non-profit community supported organization staffs qualified and trained personnel to rehabilitate fawns with the goal of returning healthy animals back into the wild.

Founder Diane Nicholas worked for several years with Gold Country Wildlife Rescue and now fields the more than 800 calls per season Kindred Spirits receives.

“It’s up to us to be stewards.” says Nicholas who visits classrooms and attends community meetings to explain how people can coexist with deer, which typically means preventing deer from feeling comfortable around humans and their pets. “Once a deer is no longer afraid of people or dogs, they have much less chance of surviving in the wild.” According to Nicholas, a wide variety of illness and injuries bring the baby deer to her facility.

“What do I do if I see a fawn that appears to be sick, injured or orphaned?”

It is NOT unusual for a fawn to be left for several hours. Mother’s will often leave their fawns while grazing for food. If you are concerned the fawn has been orphaned please observe it from a distance for at least 4 HOURS before contacting Kindred Spirits Fawn Rescue.

If the fawn is clearly INJURED or SICK please CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY! Our service is available at NO CHARGE 24 HOURS a day, 7 DAYS a week. (530) 889-5822

• Keep It Warm and Safe. Should you find this animal on the side of the road or a trail, the most important thing you can do for the fawn is secure it in a safe, dark environment.
A dog crate or a large box will work as a temporary home. Make sure the fawn is kept warm with a hot water bottle or sock filled with rice which has been micro waved for 3 minutes then wrapped in a towel. Cover the fawn with a towel or blanket then place the hot water bottle/rice sock next to the fawn. Make sure the fawn is away from human noise and domestic pets.

• DO NOT give any food, water or medicine to the fawn. The wrong food or medicine can do more harm than good.

•  DO NOT care for a sick, injured, or orphaned fawn yourself?
Rehabilitating fawns is illegal for members of the public. Kindred Spirits is licensed to care for fawns through the California Department of Fish & Game.

Remember that no matter how adorable and cute a fawn is, they are still a wild animal - and deserve to remain so.

“There is nothing more rewarding than releasing them back into the wild and watching them trot off to live their lives,” Nicholas said.

Learn more about Kindred Spirits Fawn Rescue. : 24 Hour Hotline:
530-889-5822
www.kindredspiritsfawnrescue.org

Is your computer vulnerable to Malware?

By Greg Luther, Computer Shoppe

Malware is malicious software that can infect and cause havoc with your computer, possible making it unusable. Oftentimes, your computer can get infected by visiting certain websites or opening emails with infected attachments. Many malware programs don't show obvious signs of an infection because they may not want you to know they are on your computer.  Some are designed to keep track of what you type on your computer while others will show obvious signs of an infection like redirecting  your browser to a different location than what you typed into the browser.

Although antivirus software does provide some protection; it is not a complete solution to preventing malware. Adding programs like Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware is a good start, but you also need to protect your browser because many infections can start by visiting a site infected with malware.

So, adding additional protection to your browser can help protect against websites that try to infect your computer.  Depending on the browser you use (the top browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer), you can search for add-ons for your browser to help prevent problems before they start.

Meadow Vista Lions Club Update

By Ron Carmichael, Club President

The Meadow Vista Lions have been busy the last few months.   The Car Show in at Meadow Vista Park brought over eighty classics along with several interested local folks. The Lions cooked breakfast and lunch for this event. At Pioneer Day  Lions served breakfasts for all those attending. The Meadow Vista Lions wishes to thank everyone who supported us and these events.

If you are interested in information about our Lion's Club please contact us at  MeadowVistaLionsClub@gmail.com or on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. come visit our meetings a the Grange hall. Thank you from the Meadow Vista Lions' Club!

Dessert & a Movie...a Success!!!

Special Thanks to our Participating Merchants

The Fabulous 5 Cholesterol-Lowering Foods

By Richard L. Peatman, Pharm.D., Meadow Vista Pharmacy

You've been told to lower your cholesterol, a form of fat made by the liver and present in some foods. But did you know that adding certain foods to your diet may do as much to improve your cholesterol as medication? These foods are so effective that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says they can carry the health claim for managing cholesterol. There are five foods that can help cholesterol.

1. Soluble fiber. Sometimes called roughage, soluble fiber reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – the "bad" cholesterol by reducing its adsorption in the digestive tract. It is most effective if at least 10gm is used a day. Examples of soluble fiber include oatmeal, fruit, kidney beans, psyllium and barley.

2. Nuts. Rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, many kinds of nuts reduce cholesterol and help keep blood vessels healthy and elastic. Aim for a handful each day or about 1.5 ounces. Remember that nuts are high in calories, so more isn't better. To keep fats to a minimum, make substitutions. For example, add nuts to salads instead of cheese or meat. Examples of nuts to include in your diet are walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and hazelnuts.

3. Fish. Fatty fish is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which helps lower cholesterol and reduce blood pressure and the risk of blood clots. Try for two servings of fish each week. You can also take an omega-3 or fish oil supplement or eat ground flaxseed or canola oil.

Examples of fish high in omega-3 fatty acids are mackerel, trout, salmon, tuna, sardines and herring.

4. Olive oil. Although many people think all oil is bad, some oils are actually good for you. Olive oil lowers "bad" cholesterol, but doesn't touch the "good" kind, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. A goal is 2 tablespoons of olive oil each day. You can use olive oil to sauté foods or as a salad dressing when mixed with vinegar.

5. Fortified foods. Some foods are now fortified with plant sterols or stanols. These are substances that block the absorption of cholesterol. Aim for 2 grams a day of plant sterols. Examples of the kinds of foods fortified with these substances are margarines, low-fat spreads, orange juice and yogurt drinks.

Of course, it's also important to eat less of saturated fats, including meats and some oils, and try to eliminate trans fats. Trans fats still show up in some baked goods like cakes, cookies, and crackers. They raise LDL and lower HDL. Also remember that exercise and weight control are important.

Placer Hills Education Foundation 2nd Annual BBQ & Brew Fundraiser